Pay phone call completion method and apparatus

ABSTRACT

A method for permitting multiple calls in a toll telecommunications network from a pay telephone comprising the steps of 1) receiving a first call in said toll telecommunications network from said pay telephone, 2) determining the identity of a single carrier of said telecommunications network associated with the first toll-free call, 3) completing the first call to a called party, 4) during processing of the first call and prior to a caller actuating the switchhook of the pay telephone, providing dial tone for a second call by the single carrier associated with the first call, 5) receiving a second telephone number in said telecommunications network from said caller at said pay telephone, 6) determining the identity of the single carrier associated with the second call, and 7) responsive to the identity of the single carrier being the same single toll carrier for the first and second calls, completing the second call without additional fee to a called party of the second call by the single carrier. Associated network apparatus for performing this method comprises an application server and a database, the server most conveniently incorporating either speech recognition or tone signal receivers and a voice querying or response system.

This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser.No. 09/468,662 filed Dec. 21, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,289,088 of thesame inventors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

This invention relates to the field of pay telephone call completionand, in particular, to a pay telephone call completion method andapparatus permitting a user to make multiple toll-free calls from a paytelephone through a long distance telephone network associated with thetoll-free calls for no extra fee due to the owner of the pay telephonefrom the caller, the called party or long distance service provider.

2. Description of the Relevant Art

The party associated with a toll-free number, just as every longdistance telephone customer in the United States, must select a singlepreferred carrier to carry the traffic, typically, a long distance tollservice provider. For example, a hotel chain owner that wishes toprovide toll-free services to its potential guests must select a singlepreferred long distance carrier that is associated with the toll-freetelephone number in memory of a database. Referring to FIG. 1A, atypical toll-free telephone number may be 800-55-H-OTEL that isassociated with HOTEL and their single selected carrier, for example,XYZ long distance carrier, in memory database 25 of a local telephoneservice provider (which may also provide toll services) not selected byHOTEL. According to the prior art, a potential hotel guest may go to apayphone 30, for example, in an airline terminal and make a toll-freecall to 1-800-55H-OTEL. A local switch LS 20-1, for example, a No. 5 ESSsystem available from Lucent Technologies, Inc., among other suitablelocal switching systems, receives the dialed number of the called party(1-800-55H-OTEL) and refers to carrier database 25 to determine theidentity of the long distance network 10 of the single selected longdistance telephone service provider associated with the dialed toll-freetelephone number. The local telephone service provider, typically, aregional telephone company, then refers the call for processing to theassociated long distance service provider.

The associated toll carrier and owner of network 10 receives thetoll-free telephone number at a toll switch point of ingress to network10 at ingress switch (IS) 15-1, translates the dialed number to arouting number and determines egress switch (ES) 15-2 from the area codeand telephone number of the called party. A tandem switch 15-3 may berequired to permit a linking connection for the duration of a call fromoffice 15-1 to office 15-2. The network 10 terminates the call fromegress switch 15-2 via the same or another local telephone companyservice provider and their local switch LS 20-2 to the s called partyterminal 40.

The owner of the pay telephone 30 from which the call was placed may beany of the local telephone company, a long distance service provider,the airport or yet other entities. The payphone owner is entitled toreceive a fee, for example, less than one US dollar, (typically, thirtycents) for the use of the pay telephone 30, even though the caller paysnothing for the call. Some carriers pass the cost to the called party.Thus, the called party, in this example, the hotel operator HOTEL, maybe held responsible for at least a portion of the fee that is due andowing to the payphone owner 30 by the associated long distance carrierand owner of network 10.

When the caller has completed their call to a first called hoteloperator, for example, to try to obtain a hotel room reservation andwants to make another call because the first hotel operator has no roomsavailable, the caller typically hangs up, obtains renewed dial tone fromthe local telephone company service provider for payphone 30 and placesa second call. The above process of looking up the associated carrierand charging that carrier a fee for the use of the pay phone isrepeated. Consequently, the associated long distance carrier, be it thesame carrier or a different carrier, will be responsible for a secondfee, the same less than one dollar fee, that would eventually bechargeable at least in part to the second hotel operator.

Thus, with present methods and procedures, whenever multiple calls mustbe placed via the same associated long distance network, the caller isinconvenienced by the present pay phone call completion process becausethe caller must hang up, obtain renewed dial tone from the local serviceprovider and make a new call each time the caller wants to dial a newhotel chain operator. The local telephone company service provider isinconvenienced because they have to provide renewed dial tone andperform repeated look-ups in database 25 for long distance carriersassociated with each number dialed and repeatedly refer new calls forhandling to an associated long distance carrier. And the long distanceservice provider for the first call via network 10 is inconveniencedbecause they must repeatedly respond to the local telephone companyrequests for service and be responsible for multiples of the fee owed tothe owner of the pay telephone 30 used to make the first, second andfurther calls, so long as they are the associated long distancetelephone carrier.

Thus, there exists an opportunity in the art for an improved pay phonecall completion method and apparatus that eliminates the inconveniencesinherent in making many toll-free telephone calls from a pay telephone.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the principles of the present invention, a caller may entera list of toll-free telephone numbers in a caller preferred sequence:for example, hotel operator A, hotel operator B and hotel operator C.The network operator associated with the call to hotel operator Aprovides an application server 50 with a database 55, the server beingprogrammed according to the present invention. Once the first call tohotel operator A is referred to network 10, the network 10 can route allthe calls from the same pay phone 30 in the preferred sequence so longas network 10 is the single, selected long distance service provider.Thus, at the conclusion of a first call to hotel operator A which mayresult in not obtaining a room reservation, the network 10 may besignaled, for example, by a special dialed command or voice commandindicating the completion of the first call without the caller's havingto hang up and to dial the next telephone number and so on until a roomreservation is successfully made.

A toll communications network, according to the present invention, mayrefer to a local telephone company network, a long distance/toll network10 or a different long distance/toll network 11. Consequently, a methodfor permitting multiple toll-free calls in a toll telecommunicationsnetwork from a pay telephone comprises the steps of: 1) receiving afirst toll-free call in the toll telecommunications network from the paytelephone, 2) determining the identity of a single carrier of the tolltelecommunications network associated with the first toll-free call, 3)completing the first toll-free call to a called party, 4) duringprocessing of the first toll-free call and prior to receiving a signalindicating the termination of a network connection to the pay telephone,for example, the caller actuating the switchhook of the pay telephone,receiving a second toll-free call by the single selected carrierassociated with the first toll-free call from the pay telephone, 5)determining the identity of the single carrier associated with thesecond toll-free call, and 6) responsive to the identity of the singlecarrier being the same single carrier, completing the second toll-freecall without additional fee by the single carrier.

The caller may signal their desire to have the second call routed byusing a prearranged dialed tone sequence—such as *N (for next call).Alternatively, the caller may speak a command that is interpreted by aspeech recognition unit. The caller may signal the new call by signalingtermination of the first, receiving dial tone from the network 10 anddialing the next toll-free telephone number without alerting localswitch 20-1. Similarly, in this embodiment, the caller may speakcommands that may begin the next call.

If the next call in sequence is associated with another long distanceservice provider, the network 10 may suggest the caller permit thenetwork to place the next call to a number associated with a customer ofthe network 10 instead. The process may continue until all the telephonenumbers of the dialed sequence of telephone numbers associated with thesame long distance service provider has been completed, and then thecaller may be routed to the next long distance telephone servicesubscriber associated with the next telephone number in sequence that isnot associated with the first telephone number dialed. Typically, thiscan only be performed with the agreement of the second carrier. If thecaller wants to proceed anyway with the call, the call may be routed(with the agreement of the other long distance service provider)directly to that service provider. At any time, the caller maydisconnect but typically after the caller has placed as many toll-freecalls associated with the same carrier as they want.

Alternative embodiments and features of the present invention inaddition to those briefly described above will become clarified from areading of the detailed specification in view of the accompanyingdrawings and the claims which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a functional system block diagram showing an overview of thenetwork 10 in which an application server 50 and database 55 providingthe pay phone call completion method according to the present inventionmay be operated. FIG. 1B provides an alternative or enhanced embodimentto the overview of FIG. 1A providing for call completion via an Internetservice provider.

FIG. 2A provides a call processing flowchart of one embodiment forprogramming the application server 50 and network 10 of FIG. 1 toperform the pay phone call completion method of the present invention.FIG. 2B provides an enhancement to the flowchart of FIG. 2A providingfor Internet call completion in addition to circuit switched connection.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of an application server showingvarious functional characteristics or building blocks such as tonerecognition, speech recognition, called party supervision for hang-up,voice response unit and other alternative means for conducting a dialogwith a caller.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1A has already been described above in connection with theplacement of a succession of toll-free calls from a pay telephoneaccording to prior art call completion processes. The fees owing andpayable to a pay telephone owner may be avoided according to the presentinvention by the inclusion of an application server 50 which may be ashared network resource within or outside the network or a dedicatedresource programmed to perform a pay phone call completion methodaccording to the present invention. The server 50 has an associateddatabase 55 for number sorting and checking on carriers in a similarmanner to the database 25 used by a local operating telephone company tocheck for the identity of the carrier associated with a locally dialednumber. The server 50 will be further described in connection with adiscussion of FIG. 3.

FIG. 1A shows a calling pay telephone 30 which a user may use to place atoll-free call via a toll/long distance network. Pay phone 30, forexample, located in an airline terminal, is linked to local switch LS20-1 by wired or wireless connection. Local switch 20-1, for example,may be a No. 5 electronic switching system or equivalent system that isassociated with a carrier database 25. The local switch 20-1 is adaptedto be connected to one of a plurality of toll/long distance networks 10,11 and so on.

The invention will be discussed in the context of a long distancetoll-free call but may be applied to a local telephone carrier as well.When a caller places a toll-free call, according to the presentinvention, a toll carrier such as toll carrier 10 (or a local telephonecarrier) has an application server 50 and associated number sort andcarrier check database 55 for providing the caller with the convenienceof placing a number of toll-free calls to called parties so long as thecalled parties have selected network 10 and not another network 11 astheir long distance carrier.

Referring to FIG. 2A, after a caller places a first toll-free call atstep 200, for example, a 1-800 call, the local telephone carrier refersthe call for processing to the toll/long distance carrier 10 afterconsulting its database 25 if the called party has selected it as thesingle long distance carrier or refers the call directly to their ownapplication server 50. Network 10 then refers the call to the platform(application server) 50 at step 210.

Application server 50 is shown in greater detail in FIG. 3 and maycomprise a number of functional block items that are conventional in theart: voice query system 360, dual tone multi-frequency receiver 320,speech recognition system 340, voice response system 350, memory 310 andprocessor 300 as are well known in the art for performing the steps inthe flowchart of FIG. 2A. The application server 50 announces itself andasks the caller to input further toll-free telephone numbers inpreferred sequence and receives the toll-free telephone number input bythe caller at step 220.

The application server 50 then queries its associated database 55 atstep 230 for the identities of the toll/long distance carriers selectedby the called parties through automatic number identification dataforwarded via the SS7 signaling protocol or as received directly fromthe payphone 30 (in the case of the local telephone company).

At step 240, platform/server 50 associated with the long distancecarrier 10 or the local service provider assembles the list andsequence, for example, in the order of its customers first and then asksthe calling party if it wants to proceed. The platform/server 50, viathe query system 360, may offer to do so before or after connecting thecaller to the first called party in the sequence in alternativeembodiments.

A loop then begins at steps 250-280 involving processor 300. Referringto its associated database 55, the processor 300, typically within theplatform 50, determines at step 250 whether the called telephone numberbelongs to the appropriate carrier, i.e., the single carrier selected bythe customer holding the toll-free number. If yes, then, call processingcontinues. The call is processed locally or via ingress and egressswitches 15-1 and 15-2 and, if necessary, via tandem switch TS 15-3toward called party 40 via local switch 20-2.

Step 270 represents termination of a call to the first called party.Termination may be detected by any of a number of means. One is bydetecting hang-up supervisory signals or other indication of thetermination of a network connection to payphone 30 from the calledparty. Another is by detecting a ring no answer condition or, after atime-out, or other similar detection thereby continuing the process tonext call step 280. Another is receiving a signal from the calling partythat they have given up on the call, preferably a fixed sequence of dialpad signals, for example, *N, for next call or other unique sequence.Other means for the caller or the network 10 terminating the first callmay come to mind and should be encompassed within the scope of thepresent invention.

At step 280, the next call may be announced via voice query system 360and call processing initiated. If the called party is associated withthe same network 10, then call processing reverts to step 250. If not,the call may be referred to another carrier such as carrier 11 bypre-arrangement with that carrier for a fee, or another call also in thelist associated with the same selected network 10 may be processed withthe permission of the calling party. In the simplest embodiment of thepresent invention, after the caller places the last call in the list,the caller may be prompted one last time if they wish to make anothertoll-free call and, if not, the caller may terminate the call atdisconnect step 290 by hanging up.

As an enhancement to the system described via FIGS. 1A and 2A, a callmay be completed via an Internet service provider (ISP) 70 as per FIG.1B and 2B. FIG. 1B shows an ISP 70 coupled between either LS 20-1 orlong distance network 10 which comprise a portion of or a circuitswitched network. respectively. FIG. 2B shows additions to the flowchartof FIG. 2A, both FIGS. 1 and 2 with the same reference numbers referringto the same elements. In this other embodiment, if the next call in thecalling party's list is associated with another carrier, for example,carrier 11, at step 250, and the network 10 or LS 20-1 is associatedwith an internet service provider or ISP 70, the call may be completedvia an internet telephony connection to the called party via that ISP70, the internet connection replacing a standard telecommunicationslink.

Referring to FIG. 2B, an additional step 245 may be added between steps240 and 250 to ask the user of the present service if they want to usean Internet service provider to complete a connection. Presently,Internet service may not have the same quality of service in providing avoice telephony call as a switched circuit connection but may offer aless expensive connection. Consequently, the flowchart of FIG. 2Banticipates this decision at step 245. On the other hand, as quality ofvoice telephony services over the Internet improve, such a question maynot be appropriate—the answer could be assumed to be yes, that is, thecaller or user would like to use an ISP 70.

Besides the loop at step 250 for a switched circuit connection, there isshown in FIG. 2B a loop including steps 255, 265, 268, 270 and 280 foran Internet protocol connection. Step 255 is a decision box directed towhether or not the desired telephone number of the called party isaccessible via the ISP 70. If yes, then, the address data is forwardedat step 265 from the local switch or the long distance network to theISP 70. At step 268, the IP voice telephony connection is establishedvia ISP 70 bypassing the long distance network which is not a selectedcarrier. Steps 270 and 280 are the same steps as is FIG. 2A.

The calls can be sequenced and resequenced depending on the caller oruser's wishes (not shown) to place internet calls first or last or inthe middle in relation to calls via the selected switched circuitcarrier and a different carrier. The flowchart of FIG. 2B assumes thatcalls are placed in the order of selected carrier 10, ISP 70 andalternate switched circuit carrier 11.

Following the typical airport scenario, a caller at payphone 30 may beasked by voice query system 360, if they wish to enter a list oftoll-free telephone numbers in preferred sequence. Processor 300, afterreceiving the list and especially if it is a long list, may resequencethe list in preference to customers associated with the network itbelongs to with priority over to those called parties associated withit. The caller can accept or reject the resequenced list or canterminate the call at any time. The caller may choose to enter just twotelephone numbers and then be prompted “Do you wish to make anothertoll-free call” after completing the short list of two telephone numbersbefore the caller disconnects.

The present system may be offered in addition to a number of otherpossible services offered by the same application server 50. Forexample, the same server may offer known toll-free directory assistanceservices by responding to voiced or keyed inputs by calling party 30. Ofcourse, the next call command, for example, *N and other commandsassociated with the same application server 50 for directory servicesmust be uniquely selected and coordinated. Moreover, announcement oftime of day at called location, announcement of carrier and other knownservices can perform without any additional apparatus or programming bynetwork 10 or the local carrier.

Thus, there has been described a method and apparatus for processingmultiple toll-free calls by the carrier associated with the calledtoll-free numbers without the calling party's having to hang up andredial. The method and apparatus may be further modified or adapted andextended to other third party or collect calls in alternativeembodiments and the claims should not be deemed to be limited in scopeto exclude such modifications and obvious alternative applications.

What we claim is:
 1. A method for permitting multiple calls in a tolltelecommunications network from a pay telephone after receiving a firsttelephone number characterized by the steps of: after receiving a firstcall in said toll telecommunications network from said pay telephone andduring processing of the first call and prior to receiving an indicationof a desired termination of a network connection to the pay telephone,providing dial tone for a second call by a single carrier associatedwith the first call; receiving a second telephone number in saidtelecommunications network from said pay telephone; determining anidentity of the single toll carrier associated with the second call; andresponsive to the identity of the single carrier being the same singlecarrier for the first and second calls, completing the second call bythe single carrier.
 2. The method as recited in claim 1 furthercomprising the steps of: responsive to the identity of the singlecarrier for the second call being a different single carrier from thesingle toll carrier for the first call, completing the second call viathe different single carrier.
 3. The method as recited in claim 1further comprising the steps of: responsive to the identity of thesingle carrier for the second call being different from said single tollcarrier for the first call, converting the second call to an internetprotocol telephony call and completing the second call via the internet.4. The method as recited in claim 3 wherein said internet protocoltelephony call is sequenced in relation to calls via said single tollcarrier and said different carrier according to user selection.
 5. Themethod as recited in claim 1 further comprising the steps of: detectinga conclusion of the first call and, prior to receiving the indication ofa desired termination of the network connection to the pay telephone,querying a caller if the caller would like to place a toll-free call viaa voice query unit.
 6. The method as recited in claim 1 furthercomprising the step of: receiving a list of toll-free telephone numbersfrom said pay telephone comprising first and second toll-free numbersprior to completing a first toll-free call to a called party.
 7. Themethod as recited in claim 6 further comprising the steps of: receivinga list of toll-free telephone numbers comprising at least a third tollfree number wherein said list comprises two toll-free numbers associatedwith said single toll carrier of the first call and completing calls tosaid two toll-free numbers first.
 8. The method as recited in claim 1further comprising the step of detecting a conclusion of the first callby detecting an actuation of a switchhook by a called party.
 9. A methodas recited in claim 1 wherein said first and second calls comprisetoll-free calls.
 10. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprisingthe step of offering toll-free directory assistance services.
 11. Amethod as recited in claim 1 wherein said second call completion isprovided without additional fee to a called party of the second call.12. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein toll telecommunicationsaccess occurs for said second call without receiving any other signalsfrom said pay telephone except called party address dialing signals. 13.A method for permitting multiple calls in a toll telecommunicationsnetwork from a pay telephone after receiving a first telephone numbercomprising the steps of: receiving a first toll-free call in said tolltelecommunications network from said pay telephone; determining theidentity of a single carrier of said telecommunications networkassociated with the first toll-free call, completing the first toll-freecall to a called party; during processing of the first call and prior toreceiving an indication of a desired termination of a network connectionto the pay telephone, providing dial tone at the pay telephone for asecond call by the single carrier associated with the first call;receiving a second telephone number in said telecommunications networkfrom said pay telephone, the second telephone number corresponding toanother called party; determining the identity of a single carrierassociated with the second call; responsive to the identity of thesingle carrier being the same single carrier for the first and secondcalls, completing the second call by the single carrier.
 14. A method asrecited in claim 13 wherein said second call is a toll-free call.
 15. Amethod as recited in claim 13 wherein toll telecommunications accessoccurs for said second call without receiving any other signals fromsaid pay telephone except called party address dialing signals.
 16. Amethod as recited in claim 13, said receiving an indication of a desiredtermination of a network connection to the pay telephone furthercomprising the step of detecting the conclusion of the first call bydetecting the actuation of a switchhook by said called party.
 17. Amethod as recited in claim 13 further comprising the step of offeringtoll-free directory assistance services.
 18. A method as recited inclaim 14 wherein said second call completion is provided by said networkwithout additional fee to a called party of the second call.